Case Study – IBM Licensing Optimization: Indosat Saves $8M Through IBM Internal Assessment with Redress Compliance
Background
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat), one of Southeast Asia’s largest telecommunications providers, serves over 100 million customers with mobile, broadband, and enterprise services across Indonesia.
Operating in a fast-growing and cost-sensitive market, Indosat’s business relies on a large-scale IT backbone that supports customer billing, CRM, network monitoring, and backend operations.
Over the years, Indosat has built much of its IT foundation using IBM enterprise software, including IBM WebSphere, DB2, Tivoli, and Cognos. These platforms were licensed under multiple agreements across various departments and subsidiaries, often without centralized visibility.
In 2023, Indosat’s leadership sought to manage rising support costs and enhance visibility into its IBM software footprint.
They engaged Redress Compliance to perform a comprehensive internal IBM license assessment, reduce unnecessary spend, and ensure long-term compliance.
The result: USD 8 million in savings realized through software rationalization, entitlement realignment, and strategic cost avoidance.
Challenges
While Indosat had dedicated software asset management resources, it faced several significant challenges in managing its IBM estate effectively:
- Dispersed License Ownership: IBM software had been procured over a decade through various business units, leading to inconsistencies in entitlements, licensing metrics, and renewal schedules.
- Over-Licensing and Shelfware: Systems had been scaled up aggressively during past expansion cycles, and some IBM software remained under support despite being unused or underutilized.
- Sub-Capacity Licensing Risks: IBM software was deployed in virtualized environments. Still, there were gaps in Indosat’s ILMT (IBM License Metric Tool) coverage—exposing them to potential audit risk or overpayment.
- Complex Metrics: The use of PVU- and RVU-based licensing models made optimization challenging without specialized tooling and licensing knowledge.
- No Centralized Baseline: Without a unified view of IBM licensing and deployment, it was challenging for Indosat to accurately assess compliance and identify potential commercial waste.
Indosat required a trusted, vendor-independent advisor to evaluate their IBM licensing position and provide a secure, compliant, and cost-optimized roadmap.
How Redress Compliance Helped
Redress Compliance deployed its proven IBM License Optimization Framework, designed to deliver clarity on compliance, financial efficiency, and long-term vendor strategy alignment.
1. Licensing Entitlement Review
Redress began by conducting a comprehensive entitlement analysis, compiling all historical IBM contracts, purchase orders, and support agreements.
We:
- Normalized entitlements across versions, business units, and subsidiaries
- Identified overlapping or unused licenses under active support
- Flagged inconsistencies in metrics (PVUs, RVUs, user-based) and bundling practices
- Created a complete Effective License Position (ELP) for Indosat’s IBM software
This provided Indosat with a comprehensive view of what they owned, what they were using, and what could be optimized.
2. Deployment and ILMT Validation
Working closely with Indosat’s infrastructure and application teams, Redress conducted a technical deep dive into active IBM deployments. We:
- Inventoried IBM software installed across virtualized and on-premise environments
- Evaluated ILMT deployment coverage and ensured it was capturing all necessary data
- Aligned deployment data with contractual entitlements to validate compliance
- Flagged high-cost components (e.g., DB2 Enterprise, WebSphere ND) where usage didn’t justify full license allocation
We also provided remediation guidance to improve ILMT configuration, enabling Indosat to fully benefit from sub-capacity licensing rights going forward.
3. Optimization Strategy and Cost Reduction
Redress delivered a step-by-step license optimization plan, covering:
- Retirement or reclassification of unused licenses
- Reassignment of entitlements to match current infrastructure
- Formal support cancellation procedures for non-essential software
- Internal controls to avoid reaccumulation of shelfware in future procurement cycles
- A vendor negotiation strategy for upcoming renewals based on the optimized baseline
All recommendations were grounded in IBM licensing terms and contractual best practices, ensuring audit defensibility and internal governance.
Outcome and Impact
Through this engagement, Indosat achieved:
- USD 8 million in savings, including:
- $5 million in avoided future support renewals for unused software
- $2 million in internal license reallocation to avoid unnecessary purchases
- $1 million in optimized renewals through vendor negotiation
- Full compliance with IBM licensing rules, including improved ILMT reporting
- Elimination of over-licensing across multiple IBM software components
- Renewed internal control, with procurement and IT aligned on future IBM governance
- No audit risk, thanks to improved measurement and entitlement documentation
This engagement turned a reactive, high-risk license environment into a controlled, cost-efficient, and compliant asset base.
Client Quote
“Redress Compliance gave us the clarity we needed to take control of our IBM software landscape. Their licensing expertise, technical insight, and practical recommendations helped us eliminate millions in unnecessary costs without risk. We now have a clear path forward and the confidence to manage IBM on our terms.”
— Head of IT Sourcing & Asset Management, Indosat
Call-to-Action
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